NATO to set up liaison office in Tokyo, beef up regional ties, Nikkei reports

TOKYO/SYDNEY, June 13 (Reuters) - NATO will set up a liaison office in Tokyo in 2024 and use it as a hub for co-operation with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, the Nikkei newspaper said on Tuesday, a plan China has described as unwelcome.

In May, Japan's ambassador to the United States said the U.S.-led military alliance was planning a Tokyo office, the first in Asia, to ease regional consultations, but French President Emmanuel Macron objected to the plan.

At the time, China said the Asia-Pacific did not welcome what it called "group confrontation", urging Japan to be "extra cautious on the issue of military security" given its "history of aggression".

The Nikkei said NATO would deepen ties with its four major partners in the Pacific, preparing two-way co-operation documents with each, to form a basis for collaboration on issues such as cybersecurity and space.

On a visit to Japan in January, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg pledged with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to strengthen ties in the face of "historic" security challenges, citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's rising military power.

"Australia will have further updates on its partnership arrangements in due course," a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

"All NATO partners are transitioning to the new Individually Tailored Partnership Programme process once their existing partnership arrangements are due for renewal," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Australia is already among five partners who are not NATO members but have enhanced opportunities for deeper co-operation, such as training and information sharing, to prepare for future crisis management, NATO said in April.

Last month Kishida said Japan had no plans to join NATO as a member or semi-member state, while media said at the time he was arranging to attend a NATO summit in Lithuania in July.

South Korea's presidential office said it had no comment, when asked about the report.

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